Angels
by Culfindae
Summary: Are you an angel... They live on the Moon of Iego, I think.' And there is only one left. On hiatus.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hey everyone! I'm back and I hope to continue. Just to cover myself, for the exception of Katiana, I own nothing.**

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**Jedarians and Sethians**

Before the molecules of Coruscant were forming, before the Corellian sector was formed, before there were even medichlorines, there existed two species: the Jedarians and the Karistan (known as Sethians to the Jedarians).

Both species were aware of the existence of a power within that resided with all living things, which the Jedarians referred to as Horla (hor - powerful, physical, living; la - perception, connection), yet they disagreed on how to use it. The Jedarians, peace lovers by nature, thought it wiser to first to control one's own self before controlling this power, to fuel it with peace and live their lives with honor. But the Sethians, who did not agree in holding one's self back, used anger and fear to fuel this power and used it for their own purposes.

Both species lived as far away from the other, keeping the other at great distance, fearing the other would influence their own species away from their own ways. But, like all other things, conditions must change and then the new must come. Both species started to notice other species that were evolving and forming cultures (such as Humans, Mon Calamari, Rodians, Gamoreans, Twi'leks, Bothans, and others).

To the Jedarians, these new ones were being just as capable with the mind and Horla as any Jedarian. To the Jedarians, these species were equals, and treated them as such, leaving them to create their own technology, culture, and history. Yet to the Sethians, the new ones were viewed as slaves, ripe for the harvest.

Jedarians were a rather patient and tolerant species toward other ways and customs, yet they drew their lines. When news had reached them that the Sethians had not only taken over these people as slaves, but also slaughtered some just for sport, it was clear that the Sethians had crossed the line.

Rescuing whomever of the new ones that they could, the Jedarians took it upon themselves to teach their newfound friends of Horla in order to help, fight, and defend - to fight the evil and liberate the needy. Gathering habitable planets from various systems, the Jedarians created a single system for a refuge for those of the new ones who could not fight, with a space station for protection. Rallying what help they could, the Jedarians fought back the Sethians till nothing of the Sethian ways were left.

With the Sethians gone, peace came once more, yet the damage had been done. Contrary to leaving the new species alone, to let them build and learn on their own, the Jedarians had introduced technology beyond their comprehension; integrated all types of intelligent species before their time, and had taught them of the force and power within each and everyone person. The Jedarians also created what was not natural and not to be - an entire system out of planets from different areas of the galaxy, with two twin planets revolving around a giant space station. Taking all that they could, the Jedarians built a new home for all of the new ones, spanning all across the galaxy. The last thing they left was their order of peace and Horla. That was their last gift to the new ones. With that, the Jedarians all secretly gathered together in one remote star system, disappearing from the known galaxy.

Over time, the new ones forgot about the Sethians and thought of Jedarians as only angels in children stories, until those stories disappeared as well.


	2. Chapter 2

**Moon of Iego**

The central control room was just like the rest of the moon, unkempt and in rubble. It had been a very colorful and beautiful room, complete with a grand view over the forest moon. Now, even the sight of the broken windows and dead, rotting trees haunted the surroundings. All the green and the blue had been replaced with gray and brown. The moon of Iego once was a beautiful place.

Ashes filled the atmosphere above. No sunlight could penetrate it, displaying yet another example of what people were willing to do to possess the upper hand in battle. A light breeze, filled with a decaying odor, added to the gloom. Dust saturated the slightest breeze. Not even a drop of water could be found anywhere on the moon.

Katiana Mentar covered her mouth with part of her hood, filtering out the dust and death. Pulling up her hood, which hid a mess of wild, fire hair, closer to her face, Katiana examined the turned over console that blocked her path. Planting her hands on the console, she leapt over, barely landing on her feet. One would think with all the dust, dirt, and cobwebs that even a Jawa could land on its feet.

Katiana Mentar's hand passed over the circuit box, knocking a few switches over. Knocking a few switches was not going to do any harm. There was no power left on this moon, anyway.

_I en fy._ The main computer screen on the other side of the room blinked on.

So maybe there _was_ power left. For as dusty and beaten up as the neglected piece of machinery was, it still was in working condition. Perhaps she could use it. Katiana brushed off the cobwebs and dirt, trying to find the main controls.

_Iden i y._ This time, the word was more into focus than when it had first appeared.

Katiana's blue eyes adjusted to the almost lightless room, lit only by a flickering, dim light at the other end of the large room. But that was enough for her eyes to see. She had eyes that were unusual in shade and ability; shaded smoky blue ringed with dark blue and could see things in pitch black.

The trashed room had once been very immaculate, organized, and operable. Now, consoles were turned over, walls were deteriating, instruments were broken and scattered about the floor. She had hardly even recognized the room at first.

_Identify_. The image of the word was coming back into its original state.

Katiana's hands brushed up and down the consoles, her fingers catching on cobwebs and pushing dust aside to land on the floor. The main switch or button had to be here somewhere. A rusty, but still obvious, switch caught her attention. For all she knew, it could be the switch that activated the system, or initiated the self-destruct. There was only one way to find out. Switching it, "Katiana Mentar," she responded into the microphone, her melodic voice thick and rich with the accent of her people. It was a long shot, but it would have to do. At least her name was in the system's computer.

"Please work," she mumbled underneath her breath. She held her breath as she waited for something, anything, to happen. "Come on."

The main screen shut off and the machine died down.

"Two Moons," she cursed underneath her breath.

Katiana's jaw clenched. All this way for nothing! This had been her last hope to find him. There were no records of him anywhere else (Katiana had checked), and her mother was born, grew up, and died on this moon of Iego's, so it would only make sense that some records would be here.

Katiana's hands, folded on her arms, crumbled into white fists in front of her. She had gone through all this expense and all this trouble just to come back to this desolate place. It had cost her six months of business and over thirteen hundred credits just to get away to a place no one else knew ever existed.

Katiana turned, trying so hard to cap her anger and frustration.

"Ahhhhhhhhh," she screamed out her emotions. Now her people were truly dead, for she did not know even a third of what her people were and she would not be able to pass on all of her people's ways. She was truly the last of her kind - an all but extinct species.

Her voice echoed and subtly died away, but her frustrations were still there. A series of quiet, but noticeable, beeps kept Katiana from going into one of her rampages.

Turning around, Katiana's eyes widened. The switch must have rebooted and reactivated the main system's computer. The whining engines eased into full force. A screen off to the right fired up, showing off a recorded scene. A screen right in front of her displayed a full directory. The rest of the screens flickered on, each with a different beat and tempo. The next screen showed a map of the planet. Another screen showed a record analogue. Another displayed a diagram of the moon and the 'planet' it revolved around.

_Please give command sequence._ The main screen lit up as if nothing had ever happened eighteen years ago. Hovering over the controls, her fingers, well accustomed to this piece of machinery, quickly typed in a few cryptic number and letters.

_Isolate all records of Dania Mentar,_ she typed, relieved. If the machine still worked, than were was more than a good chance that there would be at least something in its files on Dania Mentar, since she had been in the center ring of politics on this moon for the past two hundred years.

_Please specify_, it answered.

Katiana could not help but to smile. For the computer to ask for a narrower search meant there was more than good chance she could find out at least her father's name.

_Isolate all of Dania Mentar's official documents and journal entries for the last twenty-five years_, she typed furiously. She could feel it, taste it, so close. Her search was at an end. It had to be. She closed her eyes and could swear that she could taste cinnamon and peppermint (her own mental taste of success).

_Please wait while database searches and processes._

Katiana sighed, but this time not out of frustration. Her eyes wandered to the screen that was replaying a scene.

The landscape was lush and green and so peaceful. The meadow was filled with wild flowers on a slanted hill, over looking a river. The sky was that amazing blue which she loved so dearly. But there were no birds! Something was going on, and nature knew it.

Katiana's heart pounded, pleading it was not a record of what she thought it was.

A fire bolt exploded next to the border between the forest and meadow. A swoop dropped into view.

The swoop was armed with a fire cannon! None of the swoops on this moon ever had a cannon on it. The swoop did not come from her home moon. That must have meant that her people had not fought against each other till extinction. They had been wiped out by another species.

Her eyes focused on the rider. The dark hair and green eyes were nothing she had not seen before. He even appeared human. She watched as he settled the craft down next to a tree. He was certainly large, at least two meters tall. The hairs on the back of Katiana's neck stood on ends. She had been told of people like those - Sethians!

A sigh escaped her lips. Six months and thirteen hundred credits had been worth this journey. Katiana almost cried with relief (_almost_, if she wasn't the type that didn't cry). All of her fears of her people being so hateful that they killed their own kind evaporated from within her.

Katiana had to hurry if she wanted to get everything she needed, desired, to know and still be back in time to meet her transport to Coruscant on Aldeeran in five days (and it was a three-day journey from Iego to Aldeeran).

Katiana grinned wildly as her fingers, possessed by something she could not identify, ran across the boards, extracting information - bringing her people back to life, at least in her eyes.

True, lineage meant nothing to her next job and would serve no purpose, but it meant something to her, and that made all the difference.


	3. Chapter 3

**Coruscant**

The grand view of Coruscant filled the cockpit's window. It was hard to believe an entire planet to be encompassed by one city. It started out as a small town, or so it had been rumored. Now it had taken over the entire surface, leaving nothing for nature to claim its own. The lights from the night side of the planet illuminated it and made Coruscant seem more of a machine than something living. Perhaps it was.

A lump filled Katiana Mentar's throat. Coruscant was supposed to be the place where nothing devastating could ever go wrong. Then why did she have a bad feeling about the planet? All she had to do was to look at the planet, and she became stiff all over. Something was nagging at her.

_Come on, Katiana_, she tried to reassure herself. _This is where the Jedi Temple is located. Nothing could be that bad without at least the Jedi high council noticing it._ Katiana closed her eyes and focused on the warmth of Horla. The presence of something like a warm, thick blanket was generating from the Jedi. With each and every presence amplifying the next, one could very easily feel comfortable.

Try as she might, she could not shake the sensation away. Katiana was not the average telepath, and she had taught herself to always look behind the obvious. And right now, she could feel a presence strong in will and hate. Even from a thousand kilometers away from the planet's surface, the presence seemed to touch her, freeze her lungs, choking all life out of her.

Why did none of the council sense it? It was right there in the open.

But then, a negative and a positive charge, from a distance, would always appear neutral. If that were so, then she had to guess that whomever, or whatever, it was, they were few in number; making the positive charge seem dominant and hiding the negative. It made perfect sense. Coruscant would be the perfect place to hide. There were so many places to get one's self lost in and the strength of the Jedi could mask the evil easily enough.

The hum of the pilot controls kept Katiana aware of her surroundings and kept her from straying from her composure. The truth to be told, Katiana was not even twenty years old, and had already been 'selected' as the Senatorial and Diplomatic Counselor. No one was going to take a young girl like her seriously, so she would have to make the Senate see that she was not one to take lightly. To do that, she would have to push all her fears and girlish whims away.

What the Natheeni government didn't know was that their counselor never made it to her transferring transport on Rius, and Katiana, with all her experience in conning, had easily intercepted the message and modified it to fit her perimeters. Instead of a green-haired woman by the name of Dophirni, the Galactic Republic Senate was receiving a red-haired girl named Katiana.

The captain, nervous at having a telepath on her bridge, glanced at her co-pilot, who, in turn, glanced back at the simple dressed telepath. They were nervous already when they were informed that they would be transporting the Senatorial and Diplomatic Counselor. But when they learned that the counselor was a telepath, an unusual telepath at that, they were near anxiety. The only situation worse than having a telepathic counselor on board was transporting a Jedi ambassador under hostile conditions.

The very sight of the planet slowly consumed the ship and all who viewed the planet. Katiana could feel the thrusters of the ship reversing for a standard landing. Katiana herself had once been a pilot, the unrespectable sort of trader if one willed. Though as young as she was, Katiana had come across practically every type of spacecraft known and had used every style and technique of flight known and in practice (including some of her own invention). And this landing was by the book, nothing deviating. Part of her wanted to push the pilot out of the seat and take over herself, but she was to be part of a society where if anything like what she was thinking was even breathed, Katiana's energy would be spent more on securing her cover rather than actually doing what she came her to do.

A small landing platform, shaped like a four-leaf clover, held a waiting man. Katiana could only guess that it was Senator Palpatine, the senator who was to help her adjust to her new home on Coruscant. Behind him, another transport awaited to carry her to most likely her new home.

From what she could make out from the distance, Senator Palpatine was a distinguished man in his late thirties. His red hair, which was highlighted with white streaks, was combed back, in most likely the style of his home planet. Stubbornness, kindness, and trustworthiness were clearly written on his face. Yet there was something about him she distrusted. His eyes seemed to conceal something, as if Palpatine's true self was lying underneath. Perhaps he was just tired. After all, most government officials had long hard days, every day, nonstop. Besides, Katiana was at least thirty meters away from the platform and had never met the man before.

Leaving the two fidgeting pilots, Katiana gathered what little she possessed: a small bag filled with similarly simple clothing and a few, select tools, a comlink, a hand blaster, a large cloak, a jagged knife, and a retractable staff. Katiana could never feel secure or prepared if she did not have at least one of her weapons at her side.

Making her way down the platform towards her greeting escort, Katiana took a deep breath. _Here goes nothing._ Katiana had always been a wanderer, adventurer, and a loner. Now, in order to keep her cover, she would be forced to settle down and work with hundreds of people to accomplish absolutely nothing. Oh well! At least now she could say that, for the exception of prostitution, slave trading, and bounty hunting, Katiana had worked in every employment area possible.

"Counselor Mentar, I presume," her escort greeted in an all too friendly voice. It reminded her of inquisitionist who would try to butter her up to get the answers they wanted out of her. Hiding her disgust at the memory, Katiana nodded her head. Smiling, the man gestured towards the waiting transport. "I am Senator Palpatine, senator from the sovereign system of Naboo. I am sure that you have received word clarifying my purpose in greeting you here, instead of a large reception party."

The cold sensation had become even more intense, almost dangerously. If it were so dangerous, would this be a place where she could talk freely? Come to think about it, could she even trust Palpatine or the senate? If she were to talk too freely, a weakness would sooner or later be exposed and, somehow, someone would get to her. She was sure of it. But if she were to remain silent, it would look very suspicious to Palpatine, the senate, and whoever or whatever it was that was generating such enormous power. Either way, she would loose. She would have to pick her words carefully.

"I have," Katiana carefully and promptly responded, thankful that she did not delay in response. Those in her profession had to be apt in getting out of sticky situations fast. Nodding with her words, Katiana stepped into the transport, closely followed by Palpatine. The door shut and Katiana felt the transport start to move.

Two seats sat ready and waiting for use at the other end of the shuttle. Taking the lead, Katiana sat in the second, leaving the first for the senator.

"I have noticed that you have only brought one parcel of luggage with you," Palpatine noticed as he sat down next to Katiana. "May I take the liberty of purchasing additional attire for your needs?"

_What's wrong with living simply!_ Katiana kept herself from lashing at the senator. _Don't start telling me what to do and how to dress! Two Moons! Calm down, Katiana. He's only doing what he thinks is best, even if it's uncomfortable to me. I have to make the senate believe I'm here to be a counselor. Best to start now._

"I am not one who concerns oneself with the outward appearance, but more of the heart and mind," she responded cautiously. "But if doing such is in the best opinion for the senate and my duty, then you have more than my permission."

Palpatine could not help but to smile. For someone as young and wild as this eighteen-year old girl was rumored to be, she could certainly deflect a yes-or-no question. Perhaps that was the making of a good politician. "Then it is settled. I will have some clothing brought up before the week is through. I should remind you that the senate would be summoning a meeting in two weeks. It will be then when you will be asked to address the senate, to inform them of your intentions. I should warn you though, counselor, even a certain shade of color on your wardrobe could easily offend."

Katiana nodded her head in understanding. "I thank you for you concern, Senator." _But I already knew that. If you had even traveled a fourth of what I have, you would understand that too._

Palpatine shifted in his seat, hesitating. "There is also another matter which I must address. It is actually more of a favor to a certain ancient and respectable figure on Coruscant. There is a sort of test of competition that is held every five years for the Jedi apprentices. Since it has been rumored that you have yet to be equaled in combat, it had been suggested that you would be the right candidate to test them."

Katiana stared straight ahead while Palpatine watched. A lump filled her throat as memories that she had buried deep climbed back into her mind. _Of all the things he could have asked, why this?_ It was well known among those who had any interest in the Jedi that the tests were held in the Jedi temple, and she had not been inside since she was six. Come to think about it, Katiana had not even set a foot on _Coruscant_ for three years. Maybe it was her memory of this planet that gave her such a bad feeling.

The lump in her throat would not die down, though she tried. Instinctively, Katiana reached for the pendant that hung from her neck. It was a simple piece of jewelry; a style that even little children could design and make. The tarnished jewelry was shaped at two rings, interconnecting and crossing on the sides.

Pulling herself together, Katiana once again retained her composure. She could not allow herself to even appear weak. Katiana felt sure that would be her undoing.

The motion below Katiana's feet suggested that the transport was slowing to a halt. The hum of the bubbling engines receded from her ears while Palpatine stood and took his lead towards the opening door.

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"… And these will be your quarters," Palpatine continued, showing off the surroundings. The large room was furnished with a small couch, parallel to the large windows (which were now showing off the afternoon sun), and a small writing desk. "I'm afraid that there was no telling of your taste in decorum, so it was decided that you would have personal preference in overseeing the furnishing of these rooms."

Katiana moaned within. It was still too fancy for her taste, with the red and gold wallpaper and the orange curtains. She had had it up to here with all these bells and whistles, laces and satins. At least here she could keep things to a bare minimum. Here, she could get rid of everything and be content.

"These are, indeed, grand accommodations, Senator Palpatine," Katiana responded, in a hopefully convincing manner. She could just see herself snickering out loud at the decorum and offending Palpatine. It would be unwise of her to make any enemies just because of her attitude towards fineries, especially when she had a cover to keep. "You have been most thoughtful towards me."

"Think nothing of it," Palpatine replied modestly and smiled. "It is my pleasure to aid and assist the Senatorial and Diplomatic Counselor."

Katiana gazed out of the window, amazed at the sight. Mountains, valleys, cliffs, and gulfs of prearranged painted metal shrouded the horizon. Her cliff side view dropped down a hundred meters, till there was nothing else to see. The passing traffic buzzed by in groups and flashes, mimicking code.

"If there is anything else that you might require," Palpatine spoke up, "please do not even hesitate to ask."

Without even straying from her view, Katiana addressed Palpatine, "Yes. There is something I would like to know. When are the Jedi apprentices tests to be held?"

"Tonight," Palpatine answered. "I know it's short notice, but I was not able to contact you and I was confident that you were ready for anything."

That had to be one of the worst excuses Katiana had ever heard, especially coming from a politician. He might as well have said that his pet ate his comlink.

"Thank you, Senator," she thanked, saying no more. To dismiss him straight out would be implying that he was nothing more than a servant.

"If there is nothing more I can help you with, Counselor, I will take my leave," Palpatine remarked after a moment of awkward silence. Bowing, he left the quarters.

Katiana's ears followed Palpatine out of the room till he was about two meters away from her front door. Turning around, she inspected the room. If she were to strip the walls of wallpaper, get rid of the curtains, auction off the couch and desk, and keep the hard wooden floor, she would get the perfectly gray and dull room fit for someone like herself. Crossing the floor to her bag, Katiana felt through it for the small form of her comlink.

"Artoo," she called patiently into the comlink. R2D2 (nicknamed Artoo) had been waiting two days for her to respond, so she could certainly wait a few minutes for him to answer.

An excited whistle filled the other end of the line.

Smiling, Katiana took a seat on the floor, next to the wall. It was good to hear an old friend's voice.

"I'm sorry it took so long to respond," she began. "This political stuff isn't exactly what I call a drift between the stars."

A series of beeps and whistles respond. Usually a protocol 'droid was needed to understand an astromech 'droids such as Artoo, but Katiana had built this friend of hers with her own two hands and had programmed every little piece of him. She had once thought about giving his a vocal synthesizer, but decided against it. It would be an advantage if only Katiana could understand him. Come to think about it, there were many things she had planned on installing, but decided against it in the best interest of the two.

"Thanks. I know this isn't easy for you either," she replied. "But I can't leave until I find out what is happening with the economic standing on Retoha and what Retoha's government has done with our cargo. After it's done, we'll be back among the stars, I promise."

A chirp and a beep inquisitively answered.

"Of course I'm going to get the Retoha's landing codes," she responded, a bit annoyed. The plan was still in effect. Nothing had yet to deviate from it. "What did you think I was doing here? Do you think I'm really going to start smuggling and trading again without them?"

The 'droid whistled again.

"No, I do _not_ want you to hack into the Retoha embassy's main system's computer," Katiana promptly answered. "I trust your abilities, but any hacking from outside can be traced, and, believe it or not, even your hacking can be traced. Besides, I can easily get the codes from my position and none be the wiser."

The little 'droid started to protest.

"Yes, I know that it's the only place to get the cloaking codes," Katiana answered. "Unfortunately, so does Retoha. And that means a lot of security blocks."

Artoo started up again.

"Look, you just make sure that the _Wild Kat_ is ready to launch when I get there," she interrupted. The 'droid whistled again. "Let me worry about Coruscant's launching codes."

After a moment of silence passed, the 'droid once more spoke up.

"What am I going to do?" she echoed. "I'm going to prepare myself to fight kids who want to be Jedi."

Artoo whistled inquisitively.

"I'll explain later," Katiana answered.

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The setting sun painted everything it touched a bright salmon. The shadows of the massive towers were stretching out to the limit. The ongoing traffic did not even give a hint of dissolving.

Katiana wanted so much to carry her staff or some other weapon, but the apprentices were using lightsabers, and any other weapon was useless against a lightsaber, or so she heard. True, she could have brought her own lightsaber and used it, but just possessing one would identify her as a Jedi (something she did not want to mistaken as). That's why she didn't bring it with her luggage and left it hidden on the _Wild Kat_.

Fighting to her was the equivalent of an exotic dance, which happened to fill her. Life had taught her to be a master to the fullest in every style of combat. That advantage was never given to any of the apprentices; so chances were none of them could even qualify at having a chance of being her equal. True as degrading it might be to her talents, this could very well be her last fight for a long time. She would have to embrace every last second of it.

A fight was nothing to take lightly. The smallest detail overlooked could mean success or failure. Details such as her hair being tied tightly and firmly back and tucked in could mean her performance. Concentration was also essential to combat. Yet, Katiana had more than fighting skill to aid her.

Katiana possessed another ability, other than telepathy. She could see and manipulate waves of life energy her people had named Horla that circled, enveloped, and flowed through anything and anyone living. It was a strong power, yet she only used it in times of need. If she were to use it too much, she was sure that she would take advantage of it and use it for her own means. It was during those very few years in the temple where she had learned one of its many names - the Force.

But her telepathy she had inherited from her mother. Katiana's mother was from the moon of Iego. In fact, Katiana was born there. Of what she could remember from talk from deep space pilots, the people of Iego (called angels by offworlders) had unusual anatomy. They were not human, though they looked it. But as long as an offspring had one parent who was an angel, the child would be full angel. The DNA of her people did not comply with any other DNA, so her people's DNA would convert the foreign DNA to Jedarian DNA. Along with the ability to dream of the future and sense things (what had been named telepathy), Katiana had noticed that her people, compare to others, were quick learning and willing to stand by any good cause; especially her mother.

Katiana had never seen any holopictures of her father, and had been told that he was dead. Her mother would never speak of him and kept nothing of his, to move on with her life. From what information Katiana could gather from Iego's computer, her father (she had yet to find his name) had been an offworlder sent to Iego on some mission from the Republic. From the dates she had found, Katiana could only guess it was then he met her mother, fell in love, and married, and then died, though no obituary had been listed in Iego's computer.

Bringing herself back to the present, Katiana made final touches to her black outfit. Blending in with the dark of night could work to her advantage. Tucking her pendant inside her tunic, she pleaded he would not be there, that she would not have to fight him.

Turning around, Katiana existed her quarters, towards two individuals, dressed in the traditional clothing reserved for Jedi knights, her escort to the temple.


	4. Chapter 4

**Jedi Temple**

Katiana cat walked along the almost sightless corridor walls that had been reserved for the Padawan testing. Each foot stepped so that not even the dust would move. Careful not to leave any heat trail for the apprentices to follow, Katiana kept her distance from the walls. She adjusted her breathing pattern for better performance and reduction in noise. Even a Jedi apprentice could hear someone breathing, or so she heard. She had learned a trick to block her mind from any other telepaths (or any one else who could feel and read minds, a.k.a. Jedi) during her travels. Right now, that would prove very useful.

The rules were simple enough - find the shadow (Katiana) and subdue it. The test would end when either she was caught and locked up, or all the apprentices had been trapped in the cages (ones that would immediately deactivate any devices such as lightsabers) that had been provided for this specific test. True, the apprentices had lightsabers and Katiana had only herself, but that was all she needed.

Katiana stopped and listened as someone combed the adjacent corridor.

The apprentices had been released into the testing area already? Oh well! That meant she would just have to move a step up from half hearted stalking, nothing more.

Katiana had already familiarized herself with the area, taking away that advantage from her opponents. To handle forty-five apprentices in an area this large was all too easy. Anyone who wanted to be the one with all the glory would go off on their own, making them easy targets. The wise ones, who were traveling in groups and keeping all senses alert and planning traps for her, were the ones to watch out for.

She looked above to see a railing four meters above her. She could easily jump and walk along it. That way, the chances of her walking straight into an apprentice would be drastically reduced and she could attack from above.

No! She needed to call upon Horla to reach the railing and the apprentices would sense it. With Jedi around, to call upon it was just as bad as to shout out her location.

Another youth passed the corridor. Katiana held her breath and froze for a moment, watching and waiting.

Yes! Waiting! That was the key. If she were to wait long enough, the students would gain confidence and let down their guard. Some of the groups would disband, making them easy targets.

She would wait.

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"Hey!" the Mon Calamari complained as Katiana pushed her to join her companions in the fifth barred cage, taking the Mon Calamari out of the test. The girl stared into Katiana's eyes, challenging Katiana. She stared back at the girl, patiently waiting for her to withdraw the pathetic excuse for an icy stare. The Mon Calamari let her gaze drop to the floor.

Katiana's plan was a success! She quickly counted her prisoners. Let's see, six in the first cage, seven in the second, eight in the third, nine in the fourth, six in the fifth, and nine in the sixth. That left one more apprentice.

Silently climbing the staircase that led to a balcony overhead the cages, Katiana kept her back to the wall. Her caution was more out of habit than actual need. Reaching the top, she hid herself in the shadows, waiting. The last apprentice would come here eventually. The apprentice would eventually let curiosity overcome sensibility. When that happened, she would be waiting. Besides, why not have spectators while fighting. It would make for a wonderful climax.

Katiana kept an eye on the courtyard's entranceway while she stretched her muscles. Somehow, she had a feeling she was going to enjoy this.

No! She could not let herself be pleased with fighting, or let there be thrill. Patience was the key. She had to keep herself patient and let calm cloud the mind.

_Crack! Hiss!_

Katiana turned and scolded herself. The last one had been waiting for _her_, and _she_ had been the one who underestimated her opponent. He faced her on his two feet, holding an ignited blue white lightsaber in his hands. She was at a disadvantage on the balcony. Her opponent advanced, a challenge.

Her back to the courtyard, Katiana jumped and tucked her legs underneath, landing squarely on her feet in the middle of the courtyard. She signaled for her opponent to join her. He would have to retract his lightsaber before he jumped.

But he didn't. He flipped from the edge to right in front of her.

Katiana had to guess that her challenger was her age, compact in build and strong in Horla. From the dim lighting the saber gave off, she could make out a human male. He was not as tall and large as some of the Jedi she had seen, but his eyes were more Jedi like than most.

She could do very little while he had a weapon in his hands. She waited patiently for his move, any move. All he had to do was give her a glimpse of an opening. Katiana jumped back, both surprising and confusing the Padawan, who was watching for a _forward_ attack.

He must have thought she was retreating. Cautiously closing the gap, the student advanced. Katiana jumped back again, and he advanced again. Jump again. Advance again. Jump again. The apprentice, with growing confidence, advanced again, letting his weapon move to the side.

Katiana ducked and struck forward catching the hand holding the weapon. She twisted it behind his back, forcing him to drop the lightsaber, deactivating as it left his hand. Kicking the weapon to the side, Katiana nudged him towards the cages. He complied with a grunt.

The student spun on the inner foot, loosening Katiana's hold and letting himself free from her grasp. Ducking down low, the youth made a grab for the weapon.

"No, you don't," Katiana warned, summoning the lightsaber to her hands. Her mental grip on it shook. He was trying to pull it from her. The saber hung in the air, still from the equal forces tugging at it.

The youth twisted from her grasp and stood a few meters off. The two stood, facing each other, struggling for the power of the saber.

"So, you want to play tug-of-war." Katiana smirked, hoping he was like the rest of the Jedi, with their delusions that the Force was needed for everything.

Katiana dropped to one knee and rolled towards her opponent. Twisting out of the roll, Katiana jumped onto her hands and aimed her feet at the Padawan's face. Even if she did not hit him, then at least his grip on the weapon would be gone.

The student pulled his face away at the last second, just as Katiana's mind pulled again at the lazar sword. His grip was still tight. Katiana's feet instinctively came forward, catching herself before she could land straight on her back. Twisting up, in a form known as Rancor Rising in the Teri Kassi fighting style, Katiana faced her opponent, eyes wide.

_He kept his hold on the sword and ducked from my feet at the same time! How in space did he know how to split his concentration? Who taught him_, she asked herself.

Taking a natural fighting stance, she prepared herself for her next move. _Might as well forget about making a grab for the lightsaber_, she mused. _If he can keep a good hold on it, then there's no use in wasting my energies on it, just as long as he doesn't get it._

With the slightest push in the Force, Katiana pushed the lightsaber into one of the cages, deactivating it and taking it out of the test.

The two circled each other, waiting for the other's move. Katiana's eyes watched for the slightest irregular movement and listened to the pattern of his breathing. A sudden, deep breath would indicate that he was preparing to attack. If his eyes widened slightly, he would move suddenly. If he pulled back, it meant he was going to go forward.

Tired of waiting, Katiana somersaulted over his head.

The youth, quick and expectant, turned, ready for her to land on the other side of him. Katiana arched her back in the reverse direction, pulling herself back to her original position. With his back turned towards her, Katiana attempted a reverse lunge punch to his side. He caught it, only centimeters way from his skin.

With her fist in his grip, the youth flipped Katiana over his head. Katiana landed on her feet, contrary to the student's hopes.

"If that's the way you want to play it," she mused, just loud enough for him to hear.

He still gripped her arm behind her back. Spinning on her inner heal, Katiana spun back and kicked to the side of his head. His reflexes were not as quick this time and his head complied with the force of the instep of her foot. His grip let go of her and he stumbled backwards.

Before Katiana could act, her opponent leapt over her head and landed directly behind her. Katiana spun and threw a lung punch, blocked by his right leg, sweeping through a forward circle. He suddenly crouched and whirled one foot to knock her down.

Summoning Horla, Katiana back flipped before his leg was under her.

Advancing before he could get up, Katiana threw a series of punches and kicks, which the student blocked with raised forearms and knees. He retreated a step with each block, as Katiana maneuvered him towards the cages.

Her signature move would easily take him out.

Dropping to the floor, Katiana rolled on her backside, her foot pushing sideways off the concrete floor. Her crouched position gave her the advantage of speed. Katiana's legs, both half a meter off the ground, spun back behind his legs. The first one took out the shins, the second behind his knees.

It all happened in slow motion. His legs went up, into the air, while his backside started for the ground. Katiana, still in full force and speed, made another turn. Her left foot pulled back, while the right caught and cushioned behind the neck as he hit the ground. Bringing out her left leg, it spun upwards and threw itself into his face, stopping only a millimeter away from the skin on his nose.

He was hyperventilating, staring at her booted foot. She could have easily knocked him unconscious, but did not. His eyes were wide, showing that he was more than shocked. His jaw opened slightly as his head turned towards the masked figure. He knew of only one person who ever used that move before.

"Cara!" he exclaimed quietly, just loud enough for her to hear.

It was Katiana's turn to be puzzled. Retracting her left leg, she thrust his head and body upward. As he complied, Katiana brought her feet underneath and stood up without the aid of her hands.

_Who in space is he? Does he know me? Should I know him?_ Katiana shook herself. _Two Moons! What in space am I doing here, standing around? I need to get him locked up._

This time, twisting _both_ arms behind his back, Katiana again led him to the cages. Opening the fifth, she shoved him in with the Mon Calamari.

"It's okay, Obi-Wan," she heard the Mon Calamari encourage the beaten Padawan. "You did your best. Look at it this way, you held out the longest."

_Obi-Wan!_ Katiana's eyes rested on the youth she had just won to. He was looking straight into her eyes. _It can't be him._ Pretending nothing was amiss, Katiana pulled out the comlink she had been given before the test had started.

"It's finished," she spoke into it.

"By the way," the Mon Calamari asked Katiana's last competitor, "how did you do that? You know, attack in physical form and use the Force for something completely different at the same time."

_Because I taught him_, Katiana thought to herself, slightly annoyed at herself for not recognizing Obi-Wan instantly. _I introduced him to the Force._

The lights in the courtyard, unmerciful, blazed on and tried to blind the occupants in the room.

The test was over. None of the apprentices had been able to defeat her. At least she still maintained her reputation at never being beaten. With a sigh of relief, Katiana pulled off her mask, revealing her slightly tanned skin and long red hair. Her pendant accidentally slipped out from inside her tunic as her mask, caught on one of the links of the chain, fell into her hands.

Obi-Wan could not help but to smile at her. It had been so long since he had last seen her. His smile brightened, as she smiled back. His smiles could always make that sunlight smile of hers come to life.

Katiana felt another presence enter the room. Turning, she met a Jedi master (one of the Jedi high council she had been told) just entering the room. The Jedi certainly had a lively complexion. She did not remember him among the council those twelve years ago, so he had to be relatively new to the council. The human male's dark eyes scanned the cages of students with lowered heads back to the girl who was about the same age as the students. His eyebrows raised, impressed.

"Thank you for your cooperation, Counselor," the Jedi master replied. His eyes returned to the locked up Padawans.

"Sorry, Master Windu," the Mon Calamari was the first to speak up. "We all failed the test."

Katiana chuckled at the irony. She had no formal training whatsoever with that mystic power they called the Force, but it was Katiana who won. And she had been outnumbered forty-five to one.

Her gaze drifted to Obi-Wan, who was chuckling along with her. He was the only other one who understood the quirk of fate of it all. After all, he was there at her side when she had been dismissed from the temple.

She could still recall the tears the two had shed from the pain of being torn apart from each other. They had been friends ever since the day they had been put into the same playpen together. Every child had been grouped by his/her age, and Katiana and Obi-Wan had the exact same birthday date. Being apart was something the two had never done before those twelve years ago.

_When first developing speech, Katiana could not pronounce Obi-Wan. All she could say was Bi-An, which slowly molded into Ben (and the name stuck). To her, Obi-Wan would always be Ben. On the reverse side, Obi-Wan could not pronounce Katiana. Somehow, he had managed Kiarna, which became Cara. Only Obi-Wan would ever call her that._

Windu turned towards Katiana, not noticing the conversation she and Obi-Wan had made just with the looks from their eyes. "Thank you again, Counselor," he dismissed.

Katiana smiled slightly at the Jedi master, and then the students (especially Obi-Wan). Bowing her head slightly in reverence, Katiana turned, catching her old friend's eye and walked out of sight.


	5. Chapter 5

**Crimson Corridor**

Katiana twisted and turned in her sheets, facing the window. For as exhausted as she was, sleep would not come to her - and she knew quite well why not.

The Jedi high council had ordered her to never contact or associate with any of the Jedi again, especially Obi-Wan. The council 'knew' it would be for the best if he never saw or heard from her again. She was a 'bad' influence to all other Padawans. Twelve years had changed conditions, though. It had also changed Katiana and him, though all he had to do was smile with that silly grin of his and she would giggle.

Him! Katiana grabbed the pendant for comfort, trying to trick herself to make her think it would bring him near her. Obi-Wan! He was now an apprentice, a strong one at that. But he still remembered her signature move and _still_ could not defend himself against it. She could still see the shock on his face.

What was she going to do? How was she ever going to concentrate on infiltrating Retoha's computer system when she could sense him and he her? What would the Jedi high council do if they found out that Katiana and Obi-Wan were together again? Yoda, at the very least, would remember all the mischief the two had caused. A number of things could happen after word got out that they were together again. Out of all the uncertainness, one thing she did know was that her emotions would get the better of her. They always did when it came to Obi-Wan.

If her emotions were going to win over her sensibilities, then Katiana would not be able to pull off a winning performance to make the senate believe that she was here for the common good. Oh well! She never liked the job of Senatorial and Diplomatic Counselor anyway. It was not who she was. Katiana was a fighter and a wanderer. She never liked fancies or any other bells or whistles.

Then how in the world did she end up here?

Fed up with her restlessness, Katiana threw off her sheets. There was no sense in just lying around, doing nothing. Besides, maybe if she did something, she would burn off the excess energy and let her fall asleep.

At least today Katiana could be alone, away from anything political, and not be forced to do anything. No one could tell her that she had to wear a certain outfit or act like a lady. Today, Katiana could go for a jog passed a certain Retoha embassy building, work on ships that had codes just waiting to be cracked, explore the over-populated planet and overhear drifting conversations, or anything else she wanted - just like before she had accepted the job. Besides, anything was better than concentrating on last night's dream.

In her dream, Katiana saw a familiar planet. But then, she had been to so many planets, that all of them would seem familiar. This particular planet did not have any satellites or anything of the like, so it had to be outside the core systems. On one side, the planet was a rich grass green. On the other, it was a life-filled swamp.

There was a city on the former side, filled with peaceful people. What was strange about them was who was leading them. It was a girl! A young girl! Theater make-up and unusual clothing shrouded her with mystery, as if she was hiding her true identity. Two lines of similarly young girls followed her closely, as if to wait on her every need or to protect her. A woman also followed her closely, but dressed in black, to conceal her face. A circular pendant around woman-in-black's neck identified her immediately - Katiana! Chances were Katiana would become a bodyguard to some leader of some planet.

It was not a matter of if the dream ever became a reality. It was a matter of when. It had been past experiences ever since the age of nine that all her dreams would come true.

_At the age of nine, an elderly couple who owned a small moisture farm on Tatooine had agreed to take her in. Katiana at that time had never had dreams before, but had heard of them. One night, she had woken up in cold sweat. She had seen Tuskian raiders wipe out the farm and kill her guardians, yet the raiders had not even thought to even look towards the compost pile, where she was hiding. Neither the old man, nor the old woman, paid any heed to her, even when a Tuskian hunting party overran the farm and were in the process of killing everyone. Katiana had watched it all from underneath the compost pile_.

Last night's dream of her becoming a bodyguard did not disturb her, only overwhelmed. Right now, Katiana had to worry about the here and the now.

Katiana smiled to herself. None of her traveling had taught her about concentrating on the present, and neither had her people. Maybe she remembered it from her time in the Jedi temple.

There was hardly anything that Katiana did not remember. Katiana remembered the day she was expelled from the Jedi temple. She remembered the day she first met Obi-Wan. She remembered the day she was brought to the Jedi temple, and the day her mother died. And she remembered the day she was born.

Katiana pulled her hair into a ponytail and grabbed her blaster, just for precautions, as she left her quarters. There was an old path in the dangerous part of Coruscant (nicknamed the Crimson Corridor) that she knew of. She hoped that twelve years had not changed it. Since three o'clock in the morning was when most normal people were asleep, the path would be basically abandoned. All the better for her. Katiana needed to go out into the public and be by herself, to clear her mind. And Katiana did that best when she ran.

The sky above did not even give a hint of the eventually rising sun. The lights from the satellites above and the city lights replaced any glow from the stars. The racing traffic, still as busy as midday, was now overhead with its noise fading as Katiana descended down to the ground level. Here, the lights were not even to a bare limit, though it was more than enough for her. The close proximity of the cliff-faced towers limited her flexibility, even for just running.

A bar, about four meters overhead, came into view. Calling upon the Force, Katiana jumped off the ground and grabbed it. She brought her legs up, parallel to her chest, and leaped onto the bar. Finding balance on a two-centimeter thick bar was no problem for her. Somersaulting off the bar, Katiana landed more than three meters away. She was barely conscious that she had landed to find she was already twenty meters from her landing point. No one paid attention to the blur that passed them.

It was incredible! Katiana had not realized how much she missed running and exercising. She could feel the warmth and peace of it all. Everything seemed so orderly and logical. Nothing inside of her was out of place. She could not let it be a thrill, though. Taking thrills in such abilities, as hers, could be deadly. The Force had to be understood, not taken advantage of. Physical advantages had to be controlled and be used at only times of need, or she knew she would use it to serve her own means. But then, her abilities would serve her nothing if they weren't toned and practiced.

A high pile of rubble stood in her path about nine meters away. Relentless to let anything stand in her way, Katiana gained speed and somersaulted over the barrier. With what strength she had, Katiana changed her position and landed on a rail above, surprised. She could not help but staring at what she had almost landed in.

It was quarantine for a large, active flower, lying eight meters below her. It reminded her of the Pit of Carkoon on Tatooine. Perhaps it was a cousin of some sort. The spotted pink petals were stretched out in all outward direction. The center was composed of what looked like pointed petals - or teeth! If it were a cousin, then, like the pit, it would also have tentacles reaching out for its prey.

Chances were Katiana was correct. Ever since the age of fifteen, her instincts, unfortunately, had never been wrong.

_At the age of fifteen, Katiana had signed on as a co-pilot to a smuggler. Ten seconds before exiting hyperspace, and entering the atmosphere to a blockaded planet on the outer rim systems, it hit her. It was a wave, a rush, all crashing into her at once. The cool and clear penetrated even her deepest self. She dropped out of hyperspace eight seconds before planned and twenty kilometer from their arrival point. The Wookie pilot barked angrily at her, to look at his instruments and, if it was even possible, turned pale. Their destination was in the process of being wiped out of existence._

A wormy tentacle began its ascent towards Katiana. She quickly scanned around her. The steel walls did not yield any sort of hold for at least one hundred meters. Not even Katiana could vault that high. The railing below her would soon give way to her weight. The rubble walls seemed twice as tall than from the outside. The walls themselves were completely smooth and vertical.

"Why didn't I bring some sort of launch cable," she wished to herself, sifting her feet and examining the railing up above.

The railing underneath her foot shook and stopped, almost throwing Katiana off. She could not even move without causing the railing to crack and slip. She closed her eyes and sighed. Doing something was better than just standing there and waiting for her death.

The nearest wall was now about ten meters away. It should be close enough. Calming herself, Katiana sprung from the railing. A tentacle shot up and caught hold of her leg. She fell, though able to catch the ledge with her hands. Katiana tugged and tried to pull herself free.

Katiana looked down to her hand blaster, now covered with the tentacle and the slim from it, stuffing the nozzle with the slim. That ruled out shooting it.

"Two Moons!" Katiana cursed to herself. "Katiana, what have you gotten yourself into _this_ time?"

The appendage's hold on her leg tightened and pulled on her with even more force. Katiana held on even tighter, not needing to look to see the petals of the flower shaking hungrily, or the teeth rotating, or the other limbs reaching up for her.

One tentacle took a hold of her other leg; another her waist, another her chest. Each limp held additional strength, strength that Katiana tried to match. Maybe this was how she was going to die. _No! I am not about to let some overgrown weed gobble me up._ Try as she might, not even with the aid of the Force could she out match the sheer number of limbs.

Katiana felt the cold concrete rub her skin as her hands moved away from the direction she wanted to go. Her fingernails started to try to dig into the hard stone.

_No! My life is not going to end, not this way._

Her mind was restless, refusing to be beaten, but her body would not comply with her will. Her eyes once again turned to her blaster. If she was going down, then she was going to at least take it down with her.

Her left hand positioned itself in the middle of her body weight. Her hold would not last long, so she would have to be quick about it. Her other hand reached for her blaster. Wiggling the blaster out from underneath the flower's slimy wrap, Katiana took aim.

This had to be good.

A geyser of green liquid spouted from the flower's mouth and caught Katiana's hand. It seared and burned. Yelping at the pain, Katiana's hold on the blaster failed and dropped. She brought back her hand towards her chest and turned back to the wall. Her one hand tried to hold on.

The tentacles disappeared from every sense of her body. Her body dangled from the ledge.

Blaster fire! She had heard blaster fire. Maybe her blaster went off when it dropped and shot the flower.

A disturbance in the Force rippled around her as a hand took a hold of Katiana's left hand, pulling her up. "You should had remembered that this was not a path to be taken alone," a voice from above called to her.

Katiana looked up at the owner of the voice. Two cloaked figures, one at least two meters tall and the other only a couple of centimeters taller than Katiana, stood overhead. The taller one was in the process of putting away a blaster as the one near Katiana's height pulled her up.

"I've done my good deed for the month. Now if you excuse me, I have a speech to prepare," the tall, cloaked figure snarled in a female's voice. The pale, aquamarine eyes shot out from underneath the hood, making Katiana momentarily shiver. Katiana had met this woman only a few times before, and definitely did _not_ want another encounter.

Letting Katiana rest on the ledge, the other figure finally letting go of her arm. The tall woman turned to the shorter figure and handed the figure a roll of bandages and a bottle of bacta fluid. With that, she disappeared.

Shaking her head free of the memory of the tall woman, Katiana looked up at her rescuer. "You followed me, Ben," she accused her rescuer, a statement, not a question. Katiana took a good look at her right hand. The liquid had dried, though her hand still burned red.

Pulling back the hood, Katiana's rescuer revealed his face, the face of a human male, of the apprentice she had defeated.

"Cara, you're hurt," Obi-Wan finally noticed, surprised. He took hold of the injured hand and started to examine it.

Shaking her head, "It's not as bad as it looks," she reassured him. "All it needs is cool water and a bandage."

Obi-Wan's gaze shifted from the hand to the face of its owner, back to the hand. "Let me take care of it," he offered.

Katiana smiled slightly at his willingness to help. "Thank you, but I can take care of it," she fended. She shook her head. "It's not that bad, anyway. It's no big deal." She shrugged at the sight of her hand.

Obi-Wan smiled back, looking Katiana in the eye. "Well, like it or not, I'm going to take care of it."

Obi-Wan set the roll of cloth and the small bottle of bacta next to him as he settled down next to Katiana. Ripping a corner piece of the cloth and dousing it with bacta, Obi-Wan took her hand in his. The dried liquid on Katiana's hand seemed to melt away to the wet cloth.

Katiana focused on the pain. Pain was a way for the body to tell the mind that it was healing, that the body had a bit farther to go before the nerves would not think of pain. Pain not to be fought, but accepted and learned by. Once accepted, and with the aid of the Force, the body could heal itself. Katiana half closed her eyes, feeling the Force all around.

"You still practice, I see," Obi-Wan remarked, still concentration on her hand.

"I beg your pardon?" she asked, taken off guard.

Obi-Wan turned the hand over, palm up, and started working on the other side. "You still practice using the Force. You're using it to help with the healing process. At least that was what I taught you to do."

Shrugging, Katiana gave a lopsided grin. "And you still practice splitting concentrations. You used that in the test. At least that was what I taught you to do."

Looking up from the hand, Obi-Wan smiled. "Alright. Fair is fair." His hand drifted towards the roll of cloth.

"Let me guess, you couldn't fall asleep either," Katiana remarked, watching as Obi-Wan wrapped her hand with the cloth.

Obi-Wan looked up, smiling and thinking to himself. Cocking his eyebrow, he answered, "Sleepless was I. Needed to see you again I did. Friends after all we are."

Katiana laughed, amused at Obi-Wan's mimic of Master Yoda's preferred style of speech.

Finished with the hand, Obi-Wan scooped down and picked up Katiana.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Katiana exclaimed in surprise. It took a lot to surprise her, yet Obi-Wan had always managed to do exactly that.

With his left arm under her knees and the other supporting her back, Obi-Wan started to walk down the slope of rubble. Each step was precise, without uncertainty or unsteadiness, but also with speed. Taking her left arm behind his shoulder, Katiana steadied herself.

"Since when are you the great knight who rescues the damsel in distress?" Katiana commented, smiling as they reach the base of the pile.

"Since when are you the damsel in distress who needs a great knight to rescue you?" he asked, smiling just as wide as Katiana.

The sky above yielded no suitable light. But none was needed. They could see things well enough and they had the Force. Each tunnel and corridor along their path was cluttered with debris, junk, sewage, and carnage.

"So, where are you kidnapping me to?" she asked, trying to keep her tone light.

Obi-Wan stopped walking, eventually meeting her eyes. "Home," he simply said.

Katiana shook her head. "The temple's your home, Ben, not mine - not anymore anyway," she replied sadly. She lowered her head, so not to look him in the eye. Their lives had gone separate ways and had changed them so much. That life they once had together was in the long past.

"Hey, I don't want to hear that, you hear," Obi-Wan softly rebuked. "Friends forever, remember? That means we stay together."

Katiana smiled slightly. Leave it to Obi-Wan to remember a promise they had made when they were only two years old. Katiana could close her eyes and see two toddlers standing nest to each other, defending each other against Bruck Chun (a boy their age who had always passionately, and without reason, hated Obi-Wan) and Bruck's friends, promising each other to always stand next to each other, to always be friends.

Obi-Wan continued walking. To any other person, she might have been heavy, but to him, she was weightless. Just to look at her caused Obi-Wan to stare. It was so hard to believe that so many years had gone by, that Katiana was no longer the girl he remembered. Where had all those years gone? How could he have possibly missed seeing her grow up? They missed perhaps the best years of their lives away from each other.

_Perhaps it would be good to see the temple once more_, Katiana mused. It was only four in the morning. Not even the Jedi masters would be awake. She and Obi-Wan could wander around freely and visit all of their old 'secret places' they used to retreat to.

"So tell me," Katiana began, "who did you find to be your master?" She was beginning to enjoy being carried.

Obi-Wan smiled to himself, then slyly at Katiana. "Would you believe me if I told you Qui-Gon Jinn?"

Katiana's mouth dropped. It was known among those who had any interest in the Jedi that after loosing his last apprentice Xanatos to the dark side, Qui-Gon Jinn had sworn to never take an apprentice again. What in space happened for him to change his mind?

"Are you kidding around?" she exclaimed, smiling. Obi-Wan always did deserve the best. For him to have Qui-Gon Jinn for a master made everything that Katiana went through well worth it.

Obi-Wan raised his eyebrows. "Well,… "

"It was a rhetorical question," she deadpanned. Smiling, Katiana rested her head on Obi-Wan's shoulder, hiding the smile.

The hallway was silent as the temple should be. The shine and glow of the marble floor was just as she remembered. She was surprised how fast Obi-Wan could move with her in his arms and how quiet his steps were. He had definitely grown stronger.

More than that, Katiana was surprised at how much Obi-Wan had grown up. Whenever she thought of Obi-Wan, she knew he was growing up, like she was, but never expected him to be this different. His good-natured smile was the same, but that mischievous look in his eyes was gone. Part of her was sad to se the mischief gone, but that was the way things were all around the galaxy. Things were changing, just like the two of them.

Katiana would give anything to know what he was thinking that very moment.

Time must have stood still in the Room of a Thousand Fountains. She could not see anything that had changed. The water was still so clear, that the bottom of the pools, lakes, and fountains could be clearly seen.

"You can put me down now," Katiana requested. She had to walk at least this part. If nothing else, Katiana wanted to walk along the fountains with her old friend.

"Well, I still want to carry you," Obi-Wan protested with that cocky grin that Katiana had not seen since the time when Obi-Wan had pulled a successful prank on one of the council members and was not found out.

"Ben… " Katiana sighed, a bit irritated. It was just like him to put her in a position she could not work out of. Katiana could never even raise a finger against Obi-Wan, at least not in a real fight, yet Katiana's nature pulled at her to fight him to force his hold on her to drop. "What if I put in a please?"

Obi-Wan sighed, reluctant to let go of her. But it was not the way of the Jedi to be so controlling. Recovering his pride with a smile, Obi-Wan lowered her feet to the grassy carpet. His arm found its way behind Katiana's back and rested on her shoulder.

"I'm not a child, Ben," Katiana lectured. "You don't have to be so protective. Besides, you know how well I can take care of myself?"

"Yes, I saw that back in Crimson Corridor," he replied sarcastically.

Taking Obi-Wan's arm, Katiana led him down towards the lake. They had been away too long for them to get into a fight. She would not allow something to come between the two, not after all the years of friendship.

Obi-Wan took note of the pendent she wore. Taking it in his hand, Obi-Wan fingered the tarnished interconnecting circles. He knew every knick in it. After all, he had made it.

_Obi-Wan wanted to give Katiana something special for her seventh birthday. For weeks, he kept quiet about the design and his labors to make it. But the necklace had ended up as a going away present instead._

Obi-Wan caught Katiana's eyes, relaying through his eyes his surprise that she still wore it. Katiana's eyes replied the friendship she had for him and how much he meant to her.

The lake was clearer than Katiana remembered. The breeze created by the fans played with her hair. Obi-Wan drew the slender young woman next to him. His arm involuntarily wrapped around Katiana, well knowing that she would just throw them off again.

But she didn't. Katiana rested her head on Obi-Wan's shoulder, her arms answering Obi-Wan's embrace. Why couldn't things just stay they way they were, just for that moment. Why couldn't the fact that Obi-Wan was a Jedi apprentice and Katiana was a smuggler and a con artist just vanish? For the first time in a long time, Katiana felt she was home.

Katiana looked up at her friend's face, expecting him to be watching the waves on the lake. He was looking at her, instead. A lump filled her throat. Whatever was going on, Katiana was sure that it would not break their friendship. It could only strengthen it. Katiana smiled, feeling a joy she had not known for twelve years.


	6. Chapter 6

**Sith**

The cloaked figure had followed the girl for the past two days. He had used the aches from lack of nourishment and the strain from staying awake for strength. It was interesting to see the Jedi apprentice help the girl, even carry her to the temple, with the Jedi high council ignorant of such happenings.

The girl interested him. He had tried to find information about her past, and found nothing about her before the age of fifteen. Unless she knew how to make herself literally disappear for years at a time, it was quite impossible to not have records for so long. Even now, the fact that she had made an astromech 'droid her partner in smuggling intrigued him even more. She treated a bucket of bolts the same as she would flesh.

The fact that she was not here to be a counselor had caught his master's attention. His master had made it a point time and time again to know the darkest secret among the Galactic Senate.

The temple was at his back. He had all the evidence he needed for his master. But his master could not be contacted while in the temple when all transmissions in and out were monitored by temple security. Though it meant he would have to stop watching the girl, he had a feeling she was not going to go anywhere for at least an hour, judging by how she was holding on to that apprentice.

Placing the receiver in position, the cloaked figure punched in a few cryptic numbers and waited for a response. He would wait as long as it took, even if he had to wait for millennia.

Another cloaked figure appeared in holographic form, sitting at a table. Though it was fairly obvious that the second cloaked figure was a quite deal older than the first, there was a presence around him that demanded respect and a large amount of fear. He was the other half their ancient order; his master - Darth Sidious.

"What is it, Lord Maul?" the answering figure demanded, his voice low, but not without at least a hint of superiority and a tone that gave no one respect unless they deserved it.

"I have followed the girl as ordered, Master," the first answered. "She is now in the Jedi Temple." Darth Maul paused. "I have found evidence to suspect that she is a Jedarian."

"A Jedarian!" Sidious echoed softly, standing up and almost knocking his chair over. His late master had told him stories about that race, but Sidious had taken care of that - at least he thought so. It was impossible! Sidious had made sure the Jedarians were destroyed. He had used the last of the Sethians to destroy the Jedarians, ultimately wiping out both races. How could that young girl be a Jedarian?

The hooded figure before him nodded solemnly, confirming his master's fear. "Yes, Master," the shadow figure replied in a low and husky voice. His yellow eyes stood out from his black and red tattooed face, which had been decorated so to mainly intimidate his opponents.

Sidious used all his will to keep from pacing about the concealed room. Not even the most powerful Sith could hide his presence from a Jedarian, if the stories were true, meaning that it was only a matter of time before the girl would realize who and what Sidious was. Even more, since it was well known that she was a telepath, the Republic would not ignore her if she were to expose him.

Turning his thoughts back to his apprentice, Sidious asked again, "How are you sure that she is a Jedarian?"

The tattooed face did not even flinch at his master's lack of faith, but promptly responded, "I took a sample of her tissue that was stored in Coruscant's databanks and examined it. Comparison proves her DNA is not of any species on the database, yet she possesses a humanoid form. Her connection with the Force is stronger than any other Jedi her age, and she is not even a Jedi. My resources all tell me that she has just come from the moon of Iego, the renowned moon of the Jedarians."

Sidious held his composure, did not even flinch, though all the information concluded with one possibility - she was from one of the original species. But, then, she would have to be at least one of the last. So, there were no problems with numbers of Jedarians. But, if she were to find out truly how and why her people died…

Sidious resisted the urge to swallow, keeping his face stone still in front of his apprentice. The girl, though she did not seem so now, was dangerous. He had reviewed what little of a record she had, and if there was anything that she was good at, it was finding out the truth (no matter if it was bad for her business or not). She would find him out and expose him. By that time, she would have risen in status and reputation to a point where such would be disastrous to their ancient order at the very least.

"The girl is a liability," he began slowly, thinking through the political muck. He could slander her with her past, and make her, in the senate's eyes, unfit to be counselor. But that would only raise her curiosity and point her attention towards him. Even if she were not in the senate, she could still gather all her information and present it in secret to some other political leader. "She must be disposed of."

Sidious could not just have her murdered in her bed. It would raise an investigation involving those around her, especially Sidious. So it would have to seem random.

On the other hand, why not make it seem directed at her? It could seem as if someone who knew her in the girl's past who had a score to settle.

"But not here on Coruscant."

Sidious's mind raced back to her files, small and incomplete as they were. She mainly had been in trade around the outer rim systems, and mostly around small planets with immense forestry.

"Take her to the forest moon of Endor. There is a storage building there, owned by this girl. She once had a fight with her ex-partner, if my memory serves me right, and had almost killed him," Sidious explained.

"Yes, Master," was the response from the red and black colored lips, knowing quite well what his master expected of him.

"Just one more factor, Lord Maul," Sidious interrupted before the image could vanish. "The ex-partner had an eye for her and an infatuation with knives."

As insignificant it might have seemed to anyone else, it made perfect sense to Darth Maul. If the body were found violated and mutilated as well as dead, the investigation would turn to her past and away from Darth Sidious.


	7. Chapter 7

**Jedi Temple**

Katiana did not want the sun to rise; neither did she want to move from where she laid. Lying next to Obi-Wan suited her just fine. Katiana's head rested on Obi-Wan's shoulder, while his arm supported her back and gripped her opposite shoulder and his left hand played with Katiana's hair.

It was an old habit, since the two were very young; to come out to the Room of a Thousand Fountains whenever they could not sleep and watch the artificial stars (the ceiling as a screen, showing Coruscant's stars that would not be visible due to the planet's lights) go by. During one of those sleepless nights, the two had watched a shooting star. The two had both made a wish on it. Obi-Wan wished to become one of the greatest Jedi knights, while Katiana wished to find out who she was (in name, body, and spirit).

Katiana turned to see Obi-Wan hold a lock of her hair up to his nose.

"And what are you doing?" she asked in a light tone, merry. It was a tone that she had not used in a very long time.

Obi-Wan blushed, seeing that he was caught in the act.

Katiana sat up, facing Obi-Wan, and did all she could from smiling. Obi-Wan's hands, almost set permanently at her waist, followed her every movement. If someone else touched her the same way Obi-Wan was touching her, she would have thrown his hands off. If one of her ex-business partners handled her the same way Obi-Wan was she would have punched him in the gut. But this was her best friend, who most likely wanted to make sure that she was actually there, and not a dream.

Obi-Wan's red face quickly turned back to its normal color. "I forgot the vanilla smell in your hair," he confessed. "I remembered that your hair smelt like vanilla, but forgot the scent."

Katiana smiled at Obi-Wan, staring into his eyes. Those eyes seemed to pin her where she sat. For that moment, she saw someone quite different than the Obi-Wan she knew.

No, he was not different. He was still the same boy that had played tricks and pranks, and had made her laugh when she was sad. His eyes still sparkled with an unquenchable thirst for life. But he had also grown up. He now had responsibilities and duties that no normal eighteen-year old boy would could even comprehend. He had seen bloodshed and hate and loss. He was a youth, yet also a man. But he was neither a boy, nor an adult.

Katiana shivered and looked back at Obi-Wan. The spell was broken. She tried to see what she had seen a moment ago.

Obi-Wan sat up, rubbing her goose-bumped arms. "Are you cold?" Obi-Wan asked, concern knitting his brow. Obi-Wan took off her cloak and wrapped Katiana in it.

Katiana kept from bursting out into laughter from all his fretting. "Ben, you shouldn't be too concerned with me. I was just waking up from a dream, that's all. Besides, a bit of cold, even if that was all it was, isn't going to be the death of me."

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to say something. Katiana turned her head towards up the path, cutting him off short. Katiana could make out approaching footsteps. Katiana's attention turned once again back to Obi-Wan.

He nodded. He had sensed it too.


	8. Chapter 8

**Qui-Gon Jinn**

Qui-Gon Jinn walked down the dirt path, one of many in the Room of a Thousand Fountains, his head darting every which way. He had thought it courteous to overlook Obi-Wan's disappearance in the middle of the night, since the results of the Padawan test had been so discouraging. Besides, a little exercise would do the youth good, and would rid him of his excess energy. Qui-Gon had waved it off and drifted back to sleep, but in the gray of dawn, was not to be found in his living quarters.

In past years, Qui-Gon had usually found his apprentice meditating in the Room of a Thousand Fountains whenever Obi-Wan was confused, and that was quite often. He had once asked his Padawan why he meditated there. All his apprentice would answer was that it was a place that reminded him of an old friend.

A strange and sweet scent gently pressed into Qui-Gon's nostrils. It reminded him of honeysuckle or lilacs or some other flower, and it was also, somehow, familiar. Qui-Gon's hand rested on his lightsaber, reminding himself that he was quite prepared to handle anything that might come. Pushing away the bushes, Qui-Gon found himself on the shores next to the lake - alone.

Qui-Gon scolded himself. There were plenty of odd smells around the lake, and Qui-Gon had just fooled himself to think that there was someone or something here that was not supposed to be.

Shaking his head, Qui-Gon left the lake to search other parts of the room.


	9. Chapter 9

**Jedi Temple**

When one Jedi master wakes up, others are sure to follow. At least, that was in Katiana's experience.

Walking down the silent entrance hall, bandaged hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder, with Obi-Wan, Katiana could not think of anything to say to ease the pain of leaving each other again. Obi-Wan's cloak hung on Katiana's back, since she had yet to give it back from her little spell in the Room of a Thousand Fountains.

"Can I contact you?" Obi-Wan asked, breaking the discomforting silence.

Katiana smiled slightly as she responded, "Anytime."

The doorway was within sight. Katiana stopped at the sight of it. She could remember how she and Obi-Wan had cried in each other's arms as Katiana was taken from the Jedi order twelve years. And now they were doing it all over again.

"I better start heading back to my quarters before Senator Palpatine finds me missing and raises a planet wide search for me," Katiana remarked, trying to make light the situation. "Chances are that he's going to have me surrounded by an army of body guards after this."

"You know, Cara, you could request for a Jedi escort instead," Obi-Wan suggested, a sly grin crossing his face.

Katiana chuckled. "Should I request for any Jedi in particular?" Katiana asked, playing along with Obi-Wan's general, yet specific, suggestions. What was she thinking? The last thing she needed was a Jedi around, especially when she was deceiving the Senate. But on the other hand, it might be well to have a Jedi escort along side her. It would give her an alibi for when Retoha's embassy realized that someone had hacked into their computer system. But no, Katiana could not use Obi-Wan like that - would not use him like that.

Katiana felt more waking minds among the temple. She would have to get out of the temple soon, for she did not think that the Jedi high council would be particularly pleased if they found her back.

"Thank you for letting me use your cloak," Katiana remarked as she started to take it off.

"Keep it," Obi-Wan halted Katiana's actions. Pulling the cloak up around her, Obi-Wan stepped closer. "I have more."

Katiana smiled, though it was a sad one. "Are you going to make this a habit? Giving me something every time we part?"

Obi-Wan's insides twisted, reluctant to let Katiana go. He did not have much care for any of the Jedi dictates at the moment, and embraced her.

Katiana's heart was tearing into shreds once more at the prospect of leaving again. She would have thought that it would have become easier, but it hadn't. It had become even worse.

Sensing more waking minds, Katiana pulled away from Obi-Wan's hold. They had to say good-bye again, and Katiana hated good-byes. She was never good at them. "Obi-Wan… I… You… May the Force be with you," was all Katiana could manage. Quickly, she turned and headed towards the door, not turning back. If she did, then she might run back to Obi-Wan, or, even worse, break down and cry.

Wave of warmth folded and enveloped Katiana. Where Katiana had left with an empty phrase, Obi-Wan said good-bye with through the Force. Maybe, in that sense, Obi-Wan had always been stronger than she.


	10. Chapter 10

**Qui-Gon Jinn**

"Obi-Wan!" Qui-Gon called out hastily. He had turned the temple upside down and right side up, with no sign of his Padawan.

If all possibilities and leads fail, start again at square one. If Qui-Gon could not find Obi-Wan anywhere else, then he would try the boy's room again.

"Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon called out as he entered Obi-Wan's quarters. He could immediately sense his Padawan, though it was Obi-Wan's alertness that puzzled him. After staying up all night, one would be tired, but Obi-Wan's mind and senses were peaked.

Qui-Gon found his apprentice facing his window, arms folded within the folds of one of his robes, watching something through the glass, and feet planted firmly on the floor, refusing to budge from his view. Obi-Wan cocked his head slightly, acknowledging his master.

Qui-Gon burned to ask his Padawan where he had been. The practice room had not been used and the archives had not been activated, so he had not been studying. Where had he been? Deep in his heart, Qui-Gon was afraid that something such as Melida/Daan would happen all over again and something would take his apprentice away again

"I met with an old friend last night," Obi-Wan answered Qui-Gon's unasked question. "I haven't seen her for twelve years.

"You met with her in the middle of the night?" Qui-Gon questioned. He was partially relieved that Obi-Wan wanted to share with him, but friendship was also the cause for Obi-Wan leaving the order and Qui-Gon while he was on Melida/Daan.

Obi-Wan turned around to face his master. He could never keep his back turned to the one who was like a father to him, the only one Obi-Wan could claim to be like a father. "She has responsibilities and duties that take up her time during the day," Obi-Wan answered. "The night is the only time she could meet with me."

Qui-Gon nodded his head thoughtfully. "Is this the same friend you sometimes quote? The one who inspired you to meditate in the Room of a Thousand Fountains?"

Obi-Wan nodded.

Qui-Gon kept a straight face, though he sighed within. Qui-Gon's fears of Obi-Wan leaving the order, leaving Qui-Gon, again were swept away with Obi-Wan's brief gesture. Obi-Wan had never directed any of their conversations towards this friend of his, but had referred to her in bits and pieces, letting Qui-Gon piece together the picture of this friend. And this friend was someone who would not let Obi-Wan defy the Jedi Code.

Qui-Gon turned towards the sound of children's feet rushing down the hall towards the dining hall. Turning towards his Padawan, Qui-Gon gestured towards the door. "Shall we get something to eat?"

Obi-Wan nodded instantly, for he was always hungry.

Qui-Gon walked behind Obi-Wan as he tried to fit more pieces together. Obi-Wan had not seen his friend for twelve years? A six-year old child did not even have access outside of the temple, and did not associate with others who were not his/her own age for that matter. So that made his friend his own age - another Jedi candidate.

So Obi-Wan's friend was a Jedi candidate, and most likely was taken away from the order, since Obi-Wan said that he had not seen her for twelve years. But why was she taken? According to Obi-Wan, she had the potential to be one of the greatest Jedi. The age of six was too young to be removed just for not finding someone to be her master. Qui-Gon hadn't even felt the Force till he was the age of eight - and Obi-Wan's friend had been teaching him of the Force before the age of three.

Did the parents want the child back? Or were there health issues? Or maybe she had been removed for behavioral problems, just like the Jedi high council had removed…Qui-Gon pushed the memory of her away before the sadness could take over him. There had once been a little girl, who would now be Obi-Wan's age, who Qui-Gon had called Orphaan who had always made him laugh and gave him happiness. But there had been an accident and the Jedi high council had pinned her as the culprit and removed her from the order. Not once did he believe that Orphaan was even capable in her heart to do something like that.

No one knew, not even the council, Obi-Wan, or even his wife Natina, the reason why he was so devastated after Xanatos had left his side was because before the incident, the council had unjustly removed his personal source of hope.

Qui-Gon looked up from his plate to see Obi-Wan hovering over his, inhaling his food. Now, Obi-Wan was all that Qui-Gon had that was anything like his Orphaan. Which made Qui-Gon all the more suspicious that Obi-Wan would break his heart.


	11. Chapter 11

**Katiana Mentar**

If anyone knew of how resourceful and fast Katiana was they would not have been so surprised at how fast she had traveled from the temple to her door. There were shortcuts through alley ways that not even the usual slime would even dare think about stepping into, vehicles that had been left on the side of some alley that had been deemed unusable that Katiana had somehow been able to restart, and there was the fact at how fast she ran (which was twice as fast as any Jedi).

Her speed was not for Palpatine's anxious nature, but for something else. Something was edging on the back of her brain, nagging at her. Katiana could feel something close, and it made her nervous. Katiana had long ago learned to trust her feelings, for they were always right on the mark. Her interpretations of her feeling might not be correct, but her feelings were always right.

Katiana turned on the shower water, warm and pleasant across her bare back. Usually, Katiana would use cold water, just to keep up her endurance. As she started to apply the soap, she caught herself singing.

Katiana scolded herself. She was being too soft. She had to stop. Just because she had a wonderful night with her best friend was no excuse for letting down her guard. Turning the water to cold, Katiana calmed herself and stretched out in the Force, letting it lead her to what was nagging at her.

It closed on her like a predator closed on its prey. It felt like a million tiny spikes of ice had pierced her, buried themselves inside the very marrow of her bones and burst. What ever it was, it was too close for Katiana's comfort.

Turning off the water, Katiana reached for a change of clothing. It would not do to face what ever, whoever, it was while nude. Katiana had bought the brown tunic and pants from a pirate who had claimed that it had been taken from a vessel that had been sponsored by royalty, though it had taken Katiana only two minutes to prove him otherwise. Maybe if she had not proven that Corellian pirate wrong she would not have angered him and have felt compelled to leave the pirating business altogether.

True, Katiana could have dressed faster, but if she were to concentrate too much on dressing, she would not be able to keep her other senses peaked to warn her if she needed warning.

The comlink sounded, startling Katiana. She switched it on. "Yes?"

A warble and a couple of beeps from the R2 unit came over the static.

Katiana had learned from years of experience how to keep calm, how to keep a straight voice, even in the most dire circumstances. But from Artoo's news, Katiana could not help but to raise her voice. "Artoo! I told you specifically NOT to hack into Retoha's system. Are you hard of hearing?"

A twerp and another warble answered Katiana's rhetorical question.

"But you _could_ have been caught," Katiana pressured. "And for your information, I was not taking that long."

Artoo whistled and beeped, defending his case.

"Look!" Katiana interrupted. "I'm glad that we now have the codes. And I am grateful that we can now get off of this tin can of a planet. But when I say don't hack, don't hack. Am I getting through to you?"

Artoo whistled passively, backing down. It might have taken a few years, but he had learned that when Katiana got into such a mood, he shouldn't press his luck.

"Hey, buddy," Katiana called, her voice back down to her cool and casual tone, "thanks all the same. I'll be at the _Wild Kat_ in three hours. I'll see you then."

Artoo beeped a farewell and shut off the connection.

Katiana fiddled with the cloth wrapped around her right hand. Unwrapping the white cloth, Katiana slowly flexed her hand. The bacta had done its job and her hand was once again whole.

_I just have to do one thing on the way_, Katiana yielded as she fingered Obi-Wan's cloak. _I won't leave without saying good-bye. _ Her eyes went over the threads, as if to study it making. Bringing herself to the present once more, Katiana sighed and eased into the robe. She looked over herself. She looked the part of a Jedi apprentice.

The sun reflecting off a piece of metal caught Katiana's eye. Her pendent was lying next to her bag. Did she take it off? She couldn't have! She promised! Katiana crossed the floor to retrieve it.

Out of all her years of training, Katiana had been taught by even the Noghri (a species that emphasized hunting, tracking, fighting, and stealth) how to track and be allusive. She could disappear in a crowd or an empty room as easy as one could bat an eye. She could fight in any style and handle any weapon with mastery. Katiana had even tapped into the Jedi records to help her improve her skills in the Force. All Katiana needed was the faintest of smells, the soundless of noises, the slightest change in air pressure, even the minuet change in the Force to warn her. But she did not get even that.

A hand, holding a wet cloth, covered her mouth as an arm (an arm that Katiana could not remove) wrapped around her waist and arms. Katiana called upon the Force, throwing things towards her unknown aggressor. All Katiana could remember was the arm she could not remove and the growing blackness.


	12. Chapter 12

**Jedi Temple**

Throughout the ages of the Republic information had been gathered through many different means. There were computers to provide data. There were archives. There was torturing of individuals. There always were drugging people. But what Qui-Gon Jinn found the most effective was observation.

When Obi-Wan went around his exercises in a daze, Qui-Gon had thought that the boy was just tired and had sent him to his quarters to rest. But when Obi-Wan had started to wander around the temple, showing signs of restlessness, Qui-Gon began to think otherwise.

Qui-Gon watched as Obi-Wan sat down on the grassy sod, next to the lake in the Room of a Thousand Fountains. It was the exact same spot where Qui-Gon had smelt that familiar smell that morning. The two ends started to connect in his mind.

So it was Obi-Wan's friend that Qui-Gon had smelt.

"Youth itself is puzzling," Mace Windu interrupted Qui-Gon's thoughts.

Qui-Gon turned to face the Jedi council member. His dark face, which was always quick to smile at a joke, was straight and grim. It struck Qui-Gon that this was the time of day when the Jedi high council met, and Master Windu never missed a meeting, not when he couldn't help it.

"Is anything wrong?" Qui-Gon asked.

"I've just been contacted by the Supreme Chancellor," Mace Windu started. "I've been informed that a newly arrived counselor is listed as missing."

"Missing?" Qui-Gon echoed. "Is he sure?"

"A Senator Palpatine had dropped by to inform the counselor of the happenings in the senate late this afternoon. What he found was a thrashed room and blood drops. But no counselor," Windu continued. "It's pretty safe to say that this politician is missing."

"Have there been any leads?" Qui-Gon questioned.

"Those that were willing to talk said that someone leapt out of the counselor's window, with the counselor, onto a waiting speeder and flew off." Pulling a data card from out of the folds of his robe, Windu presented it to Qui-Gon. "The speeder type and the description of the assailant are in here, as well as all that we could get from the chancellor. It's a skeleton outline of the counselor's recent background, residency, and current finances."

"Does this counselor have a name?" Qui-Gon mused over the surprising lack of information.

Windu shrugged his shoulders. "I'm afraid that the senate is very closed-mouth about this."

"There must be something in the counselor's past that their afraid of and hiding, or they just don't know themselves," Qui-Gon concluded.

Windu nodded. "The council reached the same conclusion." Windu nodded his head once more in dismissal. "May the Force be with you." With that, Windu left for the Jedi high council.

Qui-Gon glanced down at the data card in his hand, and then put it away in his robe. Personally, Qui-Gon would rather have stayed and watched and observed his Padawan for a longer time. But there was danger around the counselor, and, if they weren't fast enough, they might have a dead counselor on their hands.


	13. Chapter 13

**Yoda**

Sitting on his favorite bench in the Room of a Thousand Fountains, Yoda gummed his gimmer stick. Before him was a holoprojector, sitting in abeyance and waiting to be turned on. Making the slightest gesture with his hand, Yoda stretched with the Force and switched it on and a hologram of a girl sprung into life.

The first thing Yoda noticed about the girl was her hair. It was a bright red, a pure red. It was too dark to be bright, too bright to be dark, too bold to be soft, to soft to be bold. If it were not for the silk look to her hair, Yoda would have thought it to be dyed.

The second thing he noticed was her eyes. Contrasting to her fire red hair, her deep, grayish blue eyes were deeper and bluer than any ocean he had even heard of. Those eyes seemed to be the doorway to her soul. Those spotted eyes were those of young innocence, yet unmistakable aged wisdom. The girl, without a doubt, was a telepath.

A pendent around her neck caught his attention. Two metal circles intertwined and stayed closed to each other, always connected and crossing at the sides. It seemed familiar. Yoda could have sworn he had seen that piece of jewelry before. From the hologram, the girl seemed barely a woman grown. If he had to guess, he would say that the girl was Obi-Wan's age (which added to his reluctance).

For some reason, Yoda had a bad feeling about letting Qui-Gon and his apprentice take this mission; most especially on Obi-Wan's part. But there was no logic to such a prompting, making it unwise to not let them go, especially since he had yet to see a better pair who worked together as Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan.


	14. Chapter 14

_**Sith Infiltrator**_

The constant hum of engines eased Katiana into conscious awareness. The low red lighting, which made her very uneasy, did the rest in bringing her to full alertness. Her skull seemed to buzz with the warring effects of some sort of substance. Her muscles all were stiff and sore. Looking around the empty room, Katiana made out a single door and an air vent too small for her to climb through.

Katiana's mind replayed her last memory as she sat up and stretched her muscles. She had felt something cold and was preparing to fight. She was caught off guard by Artoo's message and seeing that she had taken off her necklace…

Katiana once again scolded herself for taking the necklace off. The device on the necklace was her lifeline, a way to get away at any time she wanted. But now she had to wait and see how she was going to escape.

Katiana took a deep breath through her nostrils. Her eyes widened as she recognized the scent.

She had been drugged.

It was a spice that anyone in the back streets of Corellia would know of. Though of no value when dry, it became a powerful sedative when wet, which usually kept the victim unconscious for about twenty standard hours. Katiana had a reason to know, she had used it on others many times as well.

Stretching out with the Force, Katiana's mind started to explore the area beyond the walls that kept her captive.

A force colder than Hoth met her will, forcing her senses back. She had not even thought to consider that if she could sense her capture, her capture could sense her.

Katiana had not even finished her thoughts when the only door to the room opened. The dark red silhouetted the cloaked figure, whose head was down.

Katiana stood up immediately, not willing to give him the advantage of height for a factor of terrorization.

The dark figure slowly lifted his head; his fire red and yellow eyes meeting her ocean blue and gray ones. His tattooed face usually had the effect of scaring people to the bone in the first second, but failed to extract any emotion from her for the exception of pure curiosity. She immediately made him out to be a Zabrak, a biped with humanoid form with the exception of the hairless scalp with small crown of horns protruding an inch at most from the skin.

The Zabrak casually approached his captive with a practiced pace that had been planned to make Katiana shudder, but he was again disappointed. Katiana refused to be intimidated, and stared straight back into his abhorrent face, rotating her jaw as if he was some elixir that she was about to spew out.

He circled her, as if she were some sort of product that he was deciding whether or not to buy, gradually coming closer to her.

Katiana kept still, willing herself not to become unnerved by his act, though her ears and other senses were peaked and her body was ready for an attack.

Tired of being on display, Katiana waited as the Zabrak made his next turn passed her and started to pace along as if the two of them were double stars that rotated around each other.

The Zabrak stopped pacing, and starred straight at Katiana with a scowl. His eyes burned into hers, which would make even the strong-hearted faint.

Scowls always had a strange effect on Katiana. Instead of fearing them, Katiana could not help but to smile, amused at the scowl. A chuckle rose from her throat.

Disappointed, the Zabrak spun around and stormed out of Katiana's prison cell. The shutting door gave her no comfort, as it would have for others who were in her position. Just because he was out of the room didn't mean that danger was.

Katiana sniffed the air. Nothing alien was coming from the vents - yet.

Katiana's gaze burned at the door while she started to slowly stretch her muscles, easing them into full use. She didn't need to test to see if the door was open. This kidnapper had access to her quarters and had drugged her (a task not easily done), dubbing him a professional. And since he was a professional, he would not be so stupid as to not lock the door.

What did he want with her? Surely, since he was a professional, he had found out that Katiana was a flat-rate con artist, and not worth a credit in ransom. There was the possibility of someone paying him to kidnap her.

But who?

Katiana rotated her head, stretching the neck muscles, which were very sore.

The Retoha government wouldn't be as so stupid as to higher a kidnapper to dispose of her. If anyone in the senate found out, it would mean the loss of political power for Retoha – and if there was anything that Retoha loved, it was power. That was why a large group of the populace became so disgusted by the governmental corruption they relocated and started a colony on Brijah.

She eased her arms into circles, flexing and extending her shoulders and arms.

It couldn't be the Sethian senator. She disliked Katiana so much; she would have done it herself rather than hire someone to take Katiana out. And that was fact. Besides, there must be balance in all things – good and evil, light and dark, Sethian and Jedarian. Katiana and she were the last of their kinds. If one of them were to die, the balance would be broken and the connection between intelligent organics and the Force would be permanently severed. And both the Jedarians and Sethians needed the Force to survive.

Katiana started moving her lower muscles as her stretches went on.

No one that Katiana knew, who lived on the wrong side of the law would have enough money to higher such a professional. That and they most likely would have thought of her as not worth the time or thought. Besides, if they had a strong enough grudge, they would find her themselves instead of wasting valuable money.

Katiana needed to clear her head. She would need to run to do that.

Starting off in a jog, Katiana moved around the room in a circle pattern. The small room did not offer her much room, but she made do.

Katiana could feel the warmth of the Force entering into her very bones. As she gained speed, her circle widened till she was bouncing off the lower part of the cold walls.

She was, indeed, fast. If necessary, she could outrun even a landspeeder. She had done that once before – but then again, it had been a race against time and each other. Good thing she had reached the ship first and killed her ex-partner before he could blow up the landing pad. That was when she finally realized what bad judgment in character she had (especially when it came to choosing first mates who always seemed to try to stab her in the back) and began construction on Artoo.

Katiana's speed picked up as her path rose from the floor and ran along and on the wall. The room spun in a blur, pinpointed at the center of the room. She bounded over and across the corners and door. Her mind was at ease and at peace – she would need meditation if she were to continue contemplation.

She slowed down, allowing her body to adjust to the change in oxygen. The room eased its spinning, Katiana stopped running on the walls, and at last she came to a halt.

Her heart rate was a little above normal. Her breathing was a bit faster than per norm. There was a damp perspiration on her forehead. Not her best by any means. But that was to be expected after not exercising for a week.

_Usually, Katiana used assassin droids for exercise (she had turned off the safety, making the droids lethal and leaving no room for error). She had stolen them from an Outer Rim droid factory whose main clients were overfed autocrats. Katiana tapped into the inventory and hacked into an order for eight assassin droids. With a few taps from her control panel on the _Kat_, a stolen work uniform, and the assistance of a hi-jacked trolley cart, Katiana was able to attain three droids and almost had the fourth secured on the cart before any alarm was raised. Oh, it had been great fun and a welcome challenge. She had been laughing all the while she and Artoo weaved through the firing blockade._

Letting out a deep breath, Katiana took a seat in the middle of the room and opened herself to meditation. She let down her fears and worries, forgot everything learned, and discarded priorities.

Her mind's eye could see it – mists of… of… something that was all around her. Perhaps it had color, and perhaps it was just a fog. It did not let her prison walls, or the ship plating get in the way. It had no borders, no boundaries. The very presence seemed to make her forget about everything, even the ship that held her captive, as everything in her mind's sight began to fade away and leaving the Force.

Then she called.

Katiana welcomed this Force as one would a long, lost lover. It was warm and enfolded itself around her like a blanket and worked its way into her very blood and marrow, bursting and exploding with life.

And she accepted it without question or thought – for this was what her people called La, or more commonly known as true Force. It was tempered with neither anger nor peace, but simply accepted as it was.

She could feel it seeping into her slowly at first. Then, as the Force began to be used to her life Force, started speeding up and flowing as it always did. It flowed through her, around her, and within her. Katiana couldn't tell where she ended and the Force began.

And she didn't care.


	15. Chapter 15

**Darth Maul**

His fingers ran across the controls as if he had always piloted this ship, when in actuality, his master had just bequeathed it to his disposal. His face was stone, though he was annoyed – if not seething.

What right did she have at smirking at him!

The girl was supposed to have been scared, reeking with fear to say. She was supposed to have burst out crying, begging him why she had been taking and what he was going to do with her. She even had the gumption to laugh at him. Maul's hands curled into fists and pounded them on the control panels.

He would find it pleasurable when he started slowly slicing her apart when they reached Endor. The corner of his mouth tugged as he pictured her with each stroke of a knife. Along her arms, across her abdomen, down her cheeks, underneath her jaw, around her breasts, down her sides. He could picture the fear that will be in her eyes.

The mission seemed easier as it progressed. True, he would have preferred if his master had given him a more challenging mission – perhaps one leading to a death of a few Jedi – but he would do as his master ordered, even if that meant the termination of his own life.

Maul's hands froze in place as he felt a disturbance. It was as if he was in a river running swiftly towards a waterfall. He stood and turned, trying to follow the flow of the Force. It led him straight to the hold, where the counselor was held. When he unlocked the latch, the door opened.

What in the Force!

The counselor was still in the hold. She was sitting in meditative posture – at least a meter above the plating. He could feel the Force was swirling around her and through her.

The power reserve around her… it was… powerful. He should have known that a Jedarian would be able to call on such power. And _he_ had somehow knocked her out.

For the first time, Darth Maul was wondering if there was such a thing as luck.

Locking the cargo door once more, he returned to the cockpit, even more resolved to destroy this threat to his master.


End file.
